Sa'adiya Omar Bello

"I demanded to be taken to school at age 6."

"I had opportunity of learning the Qu'ran and other Islamic knowledge when I was very young."

"I came out with flying colous, all arrangements were made for me to get married and as fate would have it, I again protected, as I wanted to continue my education"

"I was born in Kano and was three years old when my father died. Our great grandparents were from Sokoto and my father was an erudite Islamic scholar, so they were sent to Kano to preach. He had an Islamiyya school in the house so I didn’t go out for my Islamic studies, I did it at home. He was teaching his family and when he died, his wives continued. All the children from that area came to our house to learn, so I had an opportunity of learning the Qur’an and so many aspects of Islam when I was very young."

"When my father was alive, he did not take his female children to western schools. But after he died and my younger brother was to be taken to school because he is a male child, I started crying. I said to my elder brother that I wanted to go to school; and I asked why he was taking my younger brother and that I had more reason to be in school than my younger brother because I am older than him. So, he saw how I was really frustrated, crying at that age. I was six years old then. So, he said ‘ okay, I’ll take you to school’. I was taken to a very renowned primary school in Kano, Dandago Primary School, and then I went to the Government Girls Secondary School, Dala, Kano. I came out with flying colours, all arrangements were made for me to get married and as fate would have it, I again protested, as I wanted to continue my education. I was surprised at how my mother who was then a widow supported me."

"Then an opportunity came for me to study at the Bayero University, Kano. I remember Professor Kabir Galadachi at the Bayero University, he came to my school looking for Kano/ Sokoto indigenes, and I was there. He gave us forms and instructed us on how to fill it and that was how we got admission into Bayero University, Kano. I did my Degree in Education and Language, Islamic Studies/ Hausa. At that stage I got married to late Dr. Omar Bello who was nephew of the late Sultan of Sokoto, so I had an opportunity to come back home again."

"After a stint as Graduate Assistant at the Usmanu Danfodiyo University, we both applied to the University of Khartoum, Sudan and the University of London. University of London was my preference while University of Khartoum was his, but both of us applied to the two. I got admission to the University of London and he got admission to the Khartoum University. So, we had to decide where to go, but my husband said if it is my wish that we go to London, then we both should. He did his PHD while I did my Masters at the renowned School for Oriental and African Studies. I did my Masters in Hausa. I was the only student for that course in the whole university, so I was going to class all alone. I completed my thesis in seven months, wrote the exams and completed the programme."

"I actually wanted to do Islamic Studies, but it is always fate that determines what you do. I was doing both Islamic Studies and Hausa and this lecturer who went to my secondary school to give us forms to get admission to university was a Hausa lecturer, so he influenced my decision in which area I should go. He was saying ‘ we don’t have students in Hausa, please try and take that course."

"When I went to London, I was happy to see that even European professors in Hausa would give practical lessons in language, and they would tell you that you are wrong in pronouncing this or that. It made me stronger in learning the language."

"My first book was on Mu’azu, the poet in Jigawa. It was my PhD project and I selected him as a poet, because he impacted on my life. There was a particular poem he wrote on obedience to parents and my sister used to recite it while cooking and I picked from there. There’s another, also, about the flag- bearers of the Caliphate."

"As an academician, I had to continue presenting papers and my area of interest was on Shehu Usman, their contributions to poetry and I took Nana Asma’u who was also a renowned Islamic scholar. I wrote a paper on her and presented it at the university and a friend to late Waziri Junaidu the erudite scholar attended the seminar and said that the paper I presented on Nana Asma’u was great. Then I also presented another paper on her sister, because I realized that most of these women were well- versed and educated, but their contributions were not documented."

"Sometimes when you go for research, people might be having manuscripts you need, but they would not release it to you because of lack of trust, as they don’t know what you are going to do with it. But Alhamdulillah, I was opportune to get close to them. Number one, I am a woman; two, because of my marital relationship with the Caliphate and three, the Hubbare, that is the tomb of Shehu, they accepted me so much and once the Hubbare accepts you, then you have few problems."

"Another challenge is funding, because I said I was not going to ask anybody to give me money. My idea was that it’s my interest, I want to do it and I will prove to people that I have done it. So, anybody who wants to support me now, can. You know now our society is so corrupt, you can go to somebody to support your project, but he may think you are not genuine. If you initiate a thing, then prove to people that you can do it and maybe when they see the quality of work, the significance and importance of the work, they might support you later. So, I had a challenge there. I spent millions doing the project and I had only the support of my family."